GAME OVER
by UltimateGamer101
Summary: We all know about the GAME OVER screen that appears when Frisk dies, but what if they never left it? What if they stayed there, and didn't LOAD or RESET? Monsterkind would have the seventh soul they needed to go forward, but they wouldn't have the peaceful example of Frisk to follow... What would happen? This is a story to find out! (Rated T for Safe-T)
1. The Beginning of the End

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Undertale! I'm just part of its extensive fanbase! (Lord help the craziest shippers, for they have created much sin... that I almost entirely approve of...)**

 **A/N: This started as just a one shot, but I kinda want it to continue! If anyone else does too, leave a review! Ideas would be appreciated =D**

* * *

The sound of their breathing was the last thing they heard. It was shallow and harsh, as though the little air that made its way into their lungs was fighting to get out, but not fast. Like the air was in no rush about leaving their body as it died...

This death wasn't a bad one, the human supposed. Undyne had speared them beneath the mountain inside the mountain (how did that even work), fighting hard for what she believed in. They'd kept trying to SPARE her, but she never accepted it. That would always be a constant for Undyne, fighting until she had no choice but to stop.

Closing their eyes, their breaths became more and more spaced out, until finally, they just... stopped...

Oh, how tired they were...

* * *

Undyne gazed at the human body impaled upon her spear with some trepidation. She'd almost expected it to dust, what with how delicate it seemed, how fragile it was. Well... no matter. The fleshy wimp hadn't even fought back...

The fish woman stopped herself. It was rude to insult the dead, and there was no way she was going to be disrespectful to an opponent who reminded her of Asgore. So, with the care she generally didn't show, she let the spear dissipate and caught the human on her armored shoulder.

"UNDYNE? IS THAT... DID YOU CAPTURE THE HUMAN?"

The fish woman cursed in her mind, and thinking fast, quickly rambled, "Yeah, the punk passed out on me so I'm taking them to Alphys." It wasn't a complete lie. She was taking the human to Alphys, but to get a container for their soul. Holding it without letting it dissipate or absorbing it was rather... uncomfortable.

"OH NO! ARE THEY HURT!? WILL THEY BE OKAY!?" The poor skeleton looked like he was about to cry, and about to run over in worry, but the fish woman quickly held up a hand.

"Yeah, don't worry, the little punk's fine. Alphys will patch them up, but I think they're going on vacation soon. Maybe you should make some spaghetti for them to take on their trip?"

"REALLY!? WOWIE! I'LL GO MAKE SOME NOW, AND HELP THEM PACK!" He turned and sprinted off towards Snowdin, his bones clacking gently as he did so.

Undyne breathed a sigh of relief, and made her way towards Hotland, making sure to remove her metal armor before reaching the bridge. The last time she'd forgotten to remove her armor, she'd almost become a fried fish, and Sans had said way too many fish puns. That was enough to make her almost spear him... almost.

The Lab came in sight, and the doors slid open to reveal Alphys, waiting for the fish woman's arrival. "C-come in, I h-have the s-soul j-jar ready."

The human was brought in, laid down on a cot, in a strange black bag that Alphys found in the dump. She assured that it was meant to carry humans, but it seemed too big for the body. No doubt that was because it was intended for larger, adult humans. As the lizard worked, patching up the wound and beginning to wrap them up in a sort of mummy style- Asgore hadn't wanted to deal with them after the third human- Undyne watched her, a slight smile on her face.

The fish had a crush on the lizard, and it was pretty much known to everyone but the lizard herself... the same could be said for the lizard's crush on the fish. Their mutual friends were wondering when the two would lady up and get together, but it seemed neither were ready to yet. And now that the barrier was about to be broken- finally!- they'd probably get too busy for each other.

When all was set and done, Alphys took the soul jar and handed it to Undyne, preferring to wheel the human body up in the elevators. This was a routine that they'd adopted for the humans that'd been captured before they'd reached the CORE. The way the souls fluttered slightly in their jars was unnerving to the scientist, and the dead bodies that remained behind were somewhat sickening to the captain, so they'd made this arrangement early on. It was more efficient.

When they reached the throne room, Undyne stepped forward. "King Asgore, we have the final soul. Finally... the Barrier can be broken." The relief in her voice was palpable, and the buzz of excitement barely present at the start was quite present by the end of her comment. Despite everything, the fish woman was excited to meet the flowery swordswomen and robots depicted in anime, and particularly itching to get her hands on one of their giant swords... but her excitement dimmed at the King's expression.

Asgore felt as though he'd been the one who just died, instead of the human that lay so still and dead in that black bag outside the throne room. It wearied him, and the thought of what would come next had haunted him since he'd heard that the last human needed had arrived in the Underground. As his citizens knew, he was a fuzzy pushover, but now he needed to put that away and take out his resolve... and muster the will to face the future.

"Howdy! Excellent work, Undyne. Since you were a child, you have always been a good fighter... I am glad I trained you. Now comes the hardest part of our journey as monsters yet..."

* * *

Arrangements were made, and Asgore brought forth the other six souls, all seven glowing softly before him in a rainbow of light. With a heavy heart, he unlocked them one by one, absorbing them one by one, and closed his eyes as his body began to glow...

The Barrier was shattered in a pulse of mass color rivaling that of the Northern Lights, its sparkling remains falling upon the mountainside like a mist of wistful memories. Monsterkind convened under the shattered twilight sky, a meeting under cover of night with their beloved King Asgore giving them a speech full of hope. Trying times were approaching, but their liberation was at hand...

Word spread quickly from those who had been awake to witness the Barrier's breaking. Monsters roaming free again... Most of humanity had forgotten of them, only knowing the superstition of the mountain taking people who climbed it, and even that was mostly forgotten... but some humans remembered. Tales passed down in old stories from many generations before, documents held in government possession making war easier...

Soon Monsterkind and Humanity were locked together in a deadly battle to the finish.

However, all hope was not lost. There was a substantial group who wanted peace, and who would do anything to achieve it, except kill another. The last human who fell was a part of this group, perhaps not as innocent like most would want to believe, but keeping a certain tenderness in their heart as they traveled on. It was with this resolve that the peaceful group interfered in battles, preventing humans from killing monsters and monsters from killing humans, even at the cost of their own lives...


	2. Judgement of Souls

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Undertale. All Undertale characters and locations belong to Toby Fox.**

 **A/N: Shoutout to the author of The Experiment, whose username escapes me at this time (sorry). Doggo has been given the first name "Cadis" in tribute to that epic story.**

* * *

Sans the skeleton, a frequent customer of Grillby's, was in that very bar drinking it up. It wasn't often he came there to drink, but when he did, it was because he had something heavy on his mind. Tonight was no such exception.

Earlier that day, just a few hours after Asgore broke the Barrier, there had been a meeting called. The most important monsters of the Underground came, almost excluding Mettaton, but he'd eventually been convinced not to live broadcast the meeting. Alphys and Undyne were already there, and Sans'd had to go because of his position as the Royal Judge. Although if asked, he'd admit to a slight curiosity... The human had never stayed away this long.

So the list of attendees was short; Alphys, Undyne, Mettaton, Sans, and of course, Asgore himself. Surprisingly, the Riverperson was also there, cloak and all. All had some purpose to fulfill from this meeting...

Asgore sighed, and stood, his large stature casting a shadow over the table. He smiled, but seemed very tired... "Howdy! I've called you here to discuss how we will proceed with the humans. You have all had your own experiences with the human, or have some strong connection to Humanity, and I would like to hear them before we decide how to proceed."

The King gestured towards Sans, and rumbled, "You should begin. After all, you have seen and Judged all the humans who have fallen down here."

The short skeleton was, it seemed, already asleep. However, a swift smack from Undyne remedied that, and he sputtered, sitting up. " _chill out_ undyne, i was just taking an _ice_ nap." A glare and a raised fist had him standing up, before the fish woman could do anything in rebuttal.

It seemed Sans was preparing to be serious... his stance was slightly more tense than his usual relaxed pose, and his eye lights brightened up. His voice, when heard, wasn't the lazy voice he usually possessed. "Alright, ever since the second human, I have been the Judge. The first one, Chara, I didn't interact with much as I was too young. I cannot tell you what they were like, nor what their intentions were... but I can do so for the other humans.

"The second human, the first soul we collected in the Ruins, has been codenamed Patience. She carried a ribbon and a toy knife, and was very young. Patience possessed many scars from the punishments of humans on the Surface, and her beliefs were molded around it...

"The child killed all the monsters who attacked her, until she fell into one of the puzzles and got stuck, and died there. Her soul was retrieved by the former Queen, and brought here with the body. My Judgement upon her is as follows: Balanced. If she hadn't been tortured, she wouldn't have attacked. However, that darkens the Judgement upon Humanity as a whole. Does anyone have anything to add?"

Several shakes of the head were seen, as were intent stares, as it was rare for Sans to show anything but laziness. With a nod, the skeleton in question continued.

"The second soul was a boy with great energy, and has been codenamed Bravery. He couldn't stay still, and fought against his own fear with each monster that attacked him, wearing a bandana and gloves. Some died, some were spared, and eventually he was brought down by Sentry Cadis Doggo. On the Surface, he'd been written off as a troublemaker, and hadn't been looked for when he vanished. My Judgement: Balanced. And yet, Humanity's judgement grows darker. Any questions?"

More shakes of the head. Sans sighed, and continued. "The next human to fall was codenamed Justice. He wore a hat and carried a gun, and dealt fairly with all monsters he met. None who encountered him died, as he saw through their attacks and into the good souls behind them. On the Surface, he'd had the job equivalent to a Guard, protecting the innocent and taking down the guilty. My Judgement: Innocent. He had LOVE before coming here, but never gained any while here. Questions?"

He didn't even wait to see the shaking heads before moving on to the next. "The next soul was codenamed Kindness. He was a cook, carrying a frying pan and an apron, and somehow managed to avoid fighting altogether. The human baked for us, bringing several new recipes to our culinary arts, and somehow made it to Hotland without entering a single fight.

"This however, led to his death at the soul lasers, as he didn't know how to react to the blue and orange beams. On the Surface, he'd been a cook for what humans call a soup kitchen, where they give food to the homeless with no benefit of their own. My Judgement: Innocent. Questions?"

The Riverperson hummed thoughtfully, but said nothing. Alphys spoke up, "I-I've found records of such th-things. Unfortunately, they get shut d-down a lot b-because they can't afford to k-keep them running. Th-The soup kitchens, I m-mean. Th-they work off of donations, a lot of the t-time."

Mettaton sat up, the pink LED lights of his eyes dimming slightly. "Oh the poor dears. I'd love to help them when we get to the Surface."

"Noted." Sans took a breath, and continued. "Unfortunately, that isn't likely, due to the following humans. The next soul, codenamed Integrity, was a dancer. She used ballet slippers and a tutu to dance circles around the monsters who attacked her, and even drew some monsters into battle to kill them.

"It was Undyne who took her down, during her early Royal Guardswoman days, and the human told her about how she knew what she was doing, killing everyone... On the Surface, she'd been a widowed dance teacher, unsatisfied with her lot in life, who poisoned her family to get more wealth. My Judgement: Guilty."

The skeleton didn't wait to continue, wanting to get this done. "The following human was codenamed Perseverance. She wore glasses and carried a notebook, taking meticulous notes on monsters in order to take them down and out of her way. She narrowly escaped death many times, but pulled through each time, thanks to her sharp mind and quick reflexes. Many monsters died to her towards the end, once she was done observing, and it was Muffet who finally took her down.

"Gerson, passing through to Waterfall, bought the glasses and notebooks off of her, and it was from him I saw her notes. She had planned to take down each and every monster in the Underground. On the Surface, she was practically invisible, unnoticed by her enemies until it was too late. My Judgement: Guilty."

Sweat beaded down Sans' skull as he recounted that one, and verbally approached the final soul. Frisk's soul. "The final soul, after some debate, has been codenamed Determination. They were determined to make it out of the Underground, one way or the other, but seemed to lose that determination upon meeting Undyne. In a conversation, they mentioned that if they couldn't get out by showing mercy, they'd kill everyone instead...

"But, thankfully, Undyne stopped them before they could attempt to do so. On the Surface, they'd been abused in a manner similar to Patience, but took mercy upon monsters rather than killing them. My Judgement: Balanced. Any questions?"

Everyone shook their heads, and Sans sat down, instantly back in his lazy demeanor. That had been tiring...


	3. The Mission As It Stands

**DISCLAIMER: Undertale does not belong to meeeeee.**

* * *

Once Sans was finished speaking his piece, Asgore nodded in acknowledgement, and gestured to Alphys. "As the Royal Scientist, you have the greatest knowledge of our capabilities versus the humans' capabilities. Is it possible to defeat them without substantial casualties?"

The yellow lizard stood up, clutching a binder of notes in her claws, eventually remembering to set it down and open it up. "W-Well, most of our knowledge of humans comes from pre-Barrier times. There are some d-documentaries that have washed into Waterfall since then, but most of what has come here h-has been fictional. Entertainment is the l-largest interest of humanity, and that is reflected by what has fallen down here."

Alphys, settling into her element, pulled out a packet of papers and passed one to each of the table's occupants. It showed a graph, with large amounts of useless stuff compared to the little useful information. "Th-this is a generality of all items documented in the garbage dump as of last week. Books, furniture, jewelry, knick knacks, food, videos, and more. Most of the things are heavily damaged by water, even new things, indicating that Mount Ebott is close to the ocean in a tropical region. The heavy water damage points towards hurricanes and floods as being the cause of the humans' loss of stuff, although, it c-could also just be damaged because of being washed a long way to Waterfall."

Sans brought his sock-and-slippered feet up onto the table, leaning back in his chair. "how does this help us find out the humans' capabilities?" He had an idea, but this was dragging on a bit long for his tastes. He wanted to get straight to the point, a trait born in his scientific background, and fostered in his laziness.

As though the question reminded Alphys of something, she nodded, pulling out a large map of the Surface world. An area near the middle of the map was circled, close to the equator, where lots of hurricanes occurred.

"Th-this is around the area that I believe Mount Ebott is. If it were on the other side of this land mass, we would experience what the humans call earthquakes, so we aren't there. As I mentioned before, the water damage indicates previous exposure to water in large quantities, and it has bacteria that isn't really found here in the Underground. Thus we must be somewhere in this area, and that being the case, we can figure out the humans' capabilities in our area, and how to best combat them."

Undyne laughed, hefting the large sword that normally rested in her house. "If they have weapons like these still, we'll be able to fight them pretty easily! Alphys can create better weapons for us like nothing!"

Mettaton hummed thoughtfully, lifting a metallic finger before speaking. "Darlings, you're forgetting the weapon that the Yellow soul had. He didn't use it, but the projectiles for it were quite dangerous when inspected. Remember Alphys? And even though it was a primitive model compared to our own, it was created long ago, enough so that humanity has probably progressed to much greater weapons since then."

Sans went still at the implication of this... and brought his feet down. "if that's the case, us monsters are at a huge disadvantage. the bullets in the gun of justice were dangerous even when not in use, filled with an odd black powder that exploded when hit with a decent force. the only way to combat that danger would be for all of us to get human souls."

As the cloaked Riverperson leaned forward, their voice trilled out in warning... "Tra la la... One mistake would be a lethal one. The Angel needs to finish their journey for the safest outcome."

Sans glanced at the cloaked being, trying to see inside their hood. How did they know about the RESETS? Were they always aware? It would make sense, especially with their constantly cryptic remarks. But then, why hadn't they said anything beforehand?

Asgore sighed and looked around the table. "Unfortunately, that's not an option at this point. In order to declare war with the ability to win, we need to know humanity's current state. It would be safest to scout out humanity, bring back some of their latest technology, and analyze it before we leave the Underground en masse. The only hurdle remaining is finding out what the citizens want... Perhaps there should be an announcement made."

"welp, glad that's settled. i'm going to grillby's. you know where to find me." The shorter skeleton seemed about done with this meeting, and after walking out the door- the wrong door- went into a shortcut and vanished from sight.

He took a step, and landed in the entrance of the fire elemental's establishment. A quiet sigh escaped his teeth, and after pulling himself up onto the stool, he rested his arms on the counter and laid his head down. That was tiring... and what made it more tiring was the fact that the kid still hadn't returned. This had never happened, because the kid was always there, unable to be killed... Was there a limit to their power, and if so, did they just happen to hit that limit with Undyne? Were they watching from the void, trying something new?

...did they finally lose interest?

The soft thud of a bottle on the counter had the skeleton looking up, meeting the eyes of the concerned bar owner. A tired smile was shown as Sans took the bottle, which didn't fade as he drank the offered ketchup-whiskey blend. Some moments passed by as the fire elemental cleaned a glass, watching the skeleton until said skeleton spoke. "sorry grillbz, guess the meeting just has me bone-tired."

A low crackling had Sans' smile look more genuine, as he took another swig of his unique blend. "nah, i'm fine. i'm not so sure that the others will be. the humans are a big unknown at this point, and we don't even know where we are geographically compared to them. our first encounter with them could be the deciding factor on whether or not we win or lose... it's never happened like this before."

Grillby was the sole confidant of the short skeleton, due to their intermingled past. Back when monsters had first been locked underground, the fire elemental had been a general in the war, and the royal scientist at the time recruited him for his knowledge of humans. He'd worked alongside Gaster for a while, offering unique insights on their experiments with remains and the Barrier, and when Alphys came into the picture, he took more of a backseat role. However, when Gaster had taken his experiments too far, mutilating human remains with determination and magic, Grillby had quit the research and moved far away from Hotland. He'd opened a bar in Snowdin, and had stayed there since then, with one exception...

Years after he'd quit, he got a message from his old friend. In it, was a single picture of Gaster... and his two sons. They looked happy, and healthy... The fire elemental closed the bar temporarily and set off towards Hotland- a much more difficult task than it was now, due to the Riverperson not existing at the time. When he arrived at the Lab, he saw that much had been accomplished in that time- a gigantic machine sat in the lava, with chunks of ice floating by frequently, no doubt a coolant feature. A dull rectangular building marked the entrance to the machine, and possessed a bright neon sign on the far side declaring the machine to be 'the CORE'.

Entering, Grillby made his way to the new lab within the CORE, using the map on the back of the photo to guide him. Curiosity was settled upon arrival, where Gaster, his two sons, and Alphys were working. The eldest son was named 'Sans Serif', and spoke in a unique font in the same way his father did. (Gaster had explained a long time ago that the way skeletons spoke and wrote was called a 'font'. Apparently that extended to artificially created skeletons.) However, the younger skeleton was too young to have a font yet, being a babybones.

The scientist and his former colleague had a pleasant reunion, with pictures taken and everything, but all good things must come to an end...

Gaster had invited Grillby to see the beginning of the CORE, and hear of its intended purpose... a mass teleportation system, based upon his son's unique magic. It was not merely a teleportation system through space, but time as well. If they could go back before the war, they could prevent it from happening, and they wouldn't be sealed underground. The primary tests had gone flawlessly, sending jars of flowers to the past and retrieving them successfully, but now was the time for a live test.

It went unexpectedly, entirely, horribly wrong.

The first part, sending the scientist to the past, worked perfectly. But during the return process, the machine began to overheat. It shorted out halfway and began to malfunction, sending the room's occupants into a frenzy as they tried to stabilize it, to no avail.

The short skeleton, barely a teen monster at that time, was the most frantic. He saw the impending explosion approaching and banished Alphys out of the room, sending her to 'get help', but really pushing her to safety. Grillby didn't know the machine as well as the short skeleton, and knew that if there was any chance of the process being halted, it was up to him. So upon request, he took Papyrus away to safety, locking the child into a room on the other side of the CORE before returning.

A blinding flash of light met his eyes as he returned. Sans was holding out his hands in front of himself, struggling to contain the explosion in process, but shaking and sweating. He couldn't do it alone, and Grillby knew this. As the cyan magic containment failed, the fire elemental rushed forward and attempted to shield the child's body from the explosion, while emitting an oddly shaped magical barrier to deflect the energy around them...

They saved the CORE from exploding entirely, and salvaged its main usage as a power supply... but Grillby's oldest friend, Sans and Papyrus' father, was erased from existence. Due to the blast exposure, Grillby and Sans still remembered him, and while Papyrus had only a vague sense something was wrong, the rest of the Underground was ignorant entirely. It was from there that the fire elemental took the two skeleton children and brought them to his home in Snowdin, taking care of them the best he could.

To this day, the bond forged between Sans and Grillby remained strong, and the short skeleton would often take his troubles to the fire elemental for advice. It wasn't often he came there to drink, but when he did, it was because he had something heavy on his mind.

Tonight was no such exception.

"grillby... we're going to the surface again. but this time, without the kid, we're taking souls and waging war..."


End file.
